Putting people and the planet at the heart of everything we do
Our 2025 Commitments
At Officeworks, our aim is to put people and the planet at the heart of everything we do. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it’s important to you and us.
2020 marks the completion of our first Positive Difference Plan, and as we look forward, we are excited to make new commitments that continue to help make bigger things happen for people and the planet. This document is an introduction to the new Positive Difference Plan, looking to 2025, and will take you through some of the key commitments that we’re working towards in the coming years, as well as our progress to date. For further information about our commitments to 2025, visit the sustainability section of our website here.
Cover image: Team members raise a hand for literacy as part of our annual ‘Wall of Hands’ appeal This image: We value the diversity that our more than 8,300 team members bring to our business
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Our 2025 Positive Difference Plan
Our 2025 Positive Difference Plan
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Our Commitments Our Team • Create a safe, healthy work environment where our team can thrive • Ensure our team reflects the communities in which we operate, with a strong sense of belonging
Climate Action • Use 100% renewable electricity from 2025 • Reduce emissions in our supply chain • Plant 2 million trees on behalf of our customers
• Our team are capable for today and the future of work Community • Raise $5m for local causes • Help 30,000 Australian students who need it most • Provide a helping hand to 50,000 small businesses when they need us Human Rights • Enable positive change for 15,000 workers in our supply chain • Work towards eradicating modern slavery • Use data responsibly and ethically
Circular Economy • Become a zero-waste business • Repair, repurpose or recycle 17,000 tonnes of unwanted products • Ensure all packaging is reusable or recyclable
Sustainable Purchases • Zero deforestation in our supply chain • Provide a wider range of greener choices • Phase out problematic plastics
Supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
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OUR TEAM Our 2025 commitment
Create a safe, healthy work environment where our team can thrive What’s the issue?
What are we doing?
The safety, health and wellbeing of our team and
We’re working towards a target of zero injuries
customers is our number one priority. But we know
at Officeworks stores, offices and distribution centres.
that health and safety isn’t just about physical wellbeing, it’s also supporting our team to achieve great mental health and wellbeing outcomes. In doing so, people can bring their best selves to work every day, and enjoy the moments more when not at work.
When it comes to our team’s health and wellbeing, we’re providing resources that can help them thrive in every area of their life, not just work. One way we’re doing this is through our new Your Best Life program, which encourages our team to look after all aspects of their mental and physical health.
Our other 2025 Team commitments: •
Ensure our team reflects the communities in which we operate, with a strong sense of belonging
•
Our team are capable for today and the future of work
The story so far • Over the past five years, we’ve reduced team member injuries by 59% • FY20 was our safest year on record
A team member wiping the in-store hygiene screens down as part of our COVID-19 safety measures
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COMMUNITY Our 2025 commitment
Raise $5m for local causes What’s the issue?
•
impact through an engaging Community Wall
Connecting with our communities has never been more important. 2020 has presented various challenges and opportunities for all of us, and we
in every store •
a more meaningful impact to organisations that
in different ways.
We’re continuing to trial and explore a range of programs and initiatives to ensure we can make a
matter most to our teams across the business.
Our other 2025 Community commitments: •
Help 30,000 Australian students who need it most
•
Provide a helping hand to 50,000 small businesses when they need us
lasting impact in the communities where we live and work, including: •
Empowering our teams to support their local
Continuing to evolve our approach to our Round Up to Make a Difference initiative, to make
know that Australian communities have responded
What are we doing?
Changing the way we share stories of our local
communities in ways that are relevant and right for them and their customers •
Creating a new ‘Community Engagement Team’ who will be located across the country
Team members raise funds as part of our bushfire relief appeal
The story so far • Together with our team and our customers, Officeworks contributed a record $5.5m across all community initiatives in FY20 • Over $1m of this was gifted directly to local organisations via our Round Up to Make a Difference program; in-kind contributions; and our Print, Copy and Create a Brighter Future program
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COMMUNITY Our 2025 commitment
Help 30,000 Australian students who need it most What’s the issue?
Our other 2025 Community commitments:
We know there is a significant education gap
•
Raise $5m for local causes
in students who are living in disadvantaged
•
Provide a helping hand to 50,000 small businesses when they need us
circumstances and those living in remote Indigenous communities, where literacy and numeracy levels are substantially lower than non-Indigenous communities.
What are we doing? Promoting strong educational outcomes for all Australians, no matter what their circumstances, is a key strategic priority for Officeworks. That’s why we work with our national partners to identify opportunities where we can support students and help to fund our partner’s critical work in those areas.
Students at Waranwarin Early Learning Centre
The story so far Since 2013, with support from our customers and team members, we have been able to; • Support 4,800 students with a Learning for Life scholarship, by contributing $3m to The Smith Family • Provide 2,750 literacy packs to support over 4,000 Indigenous students through the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation
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HUMAN RIGHTS Our 2025 commitment
Enable positive change for 15,000 workers in our supply chain What’s the issue?
•
heard, and more often through initiatives such
At Officeworks, we sell thousands of different products which come to us from all around the world. The supply chains of these products can be
as worker surveys •
Working with our suppliers to help them embed positive change through initiatives such as
complex, with items and components often being
improving training and capacity building
manufactured in countries where laws designed to protect workers’ rights are not sufficient or
Making space for the worker’s voice to be better
•
Complimenting our risk-based, audit-centric approach with an outcome-focused approach
adequately enforced.
that will help improve worker engagement within
What are we doing?
our direct supply chain.
We believe that all workers have the right to a safe and healthy work environment, which is why we’re
Our other 2025 Human Rights commitments:
working on a number of measures to ensure human
•
Work towards eradicating modern slavery
rights are upheld and improved in our supply chain,
•
Use data responsibly and ethically
such as:
The story so far • Our well-established ethical sourcing program, which all our suppliers are required to comply with, aims to protect and uphold workers’ rights
Employees at our supplier Deli in Ningbo, China producing binders
• Each year we review around 400 ethical sourcing audits and work with suppliers to resolve any issues that are identified
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CLIMATE ACTION Our 2025 commitment
Use 100% renewable electricity from 2025 What’s the issue? We believe that every business has a role to play in reaching a net-zero emissions future and limit global warming to less than 2°C this century, a limit which scientists say we need to stick to if we’re to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Our other 2025 Climate Action commitments: •
Reduce emissions in our supply chain
•
Plant 2 million trees on behalf of our customers
What are we doing? Greenhouse gas emissions caused from electricity generation are a known key contributor to global warming. That’s why from 2025, we will only be using renewable electricity to power our operations. Over the coming years, we’ll be installing solar panels on 80 of our stores and continuing to look for ways to improve our energy efficiency so that we can continue to reduce our overall usage.
Solar panels on our North Lakes store in Queensland
The story so far • Over the last five years we have reduced our carbon emissions by 26% • 99% of our stores now have LED lighting on the shop floor • In 2019 we established a target to reduce our direct emissions by 25% on FY18 levels, and in September 2020 announced our commitment to achieve netzero emissions by 2030
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CLIMATE ACTION Our 2025 commitment
Plant 2 million trees on behalf of our customers What’s the issue? In Australia, we are losing trees at an alarming rate and in some regions, up to 85% of the natural landscape has been lost. Not only is this concerning when it comes to climate change, but it also means that native wildlife is being significantly impacted by habitat loss.
What are we doing? We have a big goal — to plant two million trees by 2025, with the help of our customers and partners. We will achieve this through our ongoing
The story so far Since launching our Restoring Australia initiative in 2017, we have planted 680,000 trees across 15 planting sites around Australia and restored 1,500 hectares.
commitment to our Restoring Australia initiative, in which we plant two trees for every one used, based on the weight of paper products purchased by our customers. On top of this, we’ll work with our partner Greening Australia to restore 2,500 hectares of land to improve and protect natural habitats for Australia’s threatened and endangered species.
Our other 2025 Climate Action commitments: •
Reduce emissions in our supply chain
•
Use 100% renewable electricity from 2025 Landholder Charles Massy, and Greening Australia Ecologist, scientist Nicki Taws at our Restoring Australia planting site in Monaro
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CIRCULAR ECONOMY Our 2025 commitment
Become a zero-waste business What’s the issue?
What are we doing?
In a retail environment, producing waste is an
To do our part in tackling the waste problem,
inevitable part of doing business. From product
we’re committed to designing out waste in the first
packaging to disposing of damaged items, reducing
instance, and embracing the values of ‘reduce,
the amount of rubbish that gets sent to landfill takes
reuse, repair and recycle’, whenever and wherever
some creative thinking and a shared commitment
possible. In other words, we’re finding new, innovative
from team members to see waste in a new way,
ways to give what was once rubbish a second life.
and turn rubbish into resources.
The story so far • Since 2015, we’ve reduced the amount of rubbish that we send to landfill by 62%
Our other 2025 Circular Economy commitments: •
Repair, repurpose or recycle 17,000 tonnes of unwanted products
•
Ensure all packaging is reusable or recyclable
• Since July 2020 we’ve been able to recycle over 90% of our waste
Our Ringwood team, lead by Store Business Manager Brendan Nech, became the first Officeworks store to manage their operational landfill waste with a 240lt household binin November 2019
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SUSTAINABLE PURCHASES Our 2025 commitment
Provide a wider range of greener choices What’s the issue? We know that our customers want to take more sustainable actions, and one way is by purchasing more sustainable products that are better for the planet.
What are we doing? Choosing more sustainable products is the easiest way for our customers to make a positive difference when shopping at Officeworks. That’s why we’re
as products made with renewable or recycled materials, that are refillable or reusable, or with products that help our customers achieve their zero-waste goals. We will also make it easier to find these products when shopping online and instore.
Our other 2025 Sustainable Purchases commitments: •
Zero deforestation in our supply chain
•
Phase out problematic plastics
working to source and design more products which are both sustainable and affordable, such
The story so far Our own-brand recycled copy paper is FSC certified
• We sell a range of sustainable products at Officeworks, such as refillable pens, recycled notebooks and backpacks made from recycled plastic fabric • Over 90% of paper products we sell are either made from 100% recycled paper or sustainably sourced and FSC certified
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Find out more about how Officeworks is putting people and the planet at the heart of everything we do View our 18 commitments at officeworks.com.au/pdp
officeworks.com.au